Dry-cell dispensing device



Patented Sept. 25, 1945 DRY-CELL DISPENSING DEVICE Leland G. Briggs, Madison, Wis., assignor to Ray- O-Vac Company, a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 23, 1944, Serial No. 523,511

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a dispensing device for dry-cells and more particularly to a container for holding a plurality of dry-cells in a regular sequence, while they are detached from electrical equipment such as a hearing aid.

In certain electrical devices such as hearing aids, the life of dry-cells is greatly lengthened if they are given an opportunity to rest for several days before being put back in service. Drycell manufacturers recommend that the A battery be changed every day, to obtain the best and most economical results.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive container from which the dry-cell which has been out of service the longest time may be withdrawn, and the dry-cell which is being taken out of service maybe put into the container in proper sequence, and subsequently betaken out again in proper rotational order without being mixed with other dry-cells.

A further object of the invention is to provide restraining means at the inlet opening of the container, so that the dry-cell will not be removed from the wrong opening and accordingly not have the benefit of a regular rest period. It will be understood that by removing a fresh cell from the bottom of the container, and adding a used one at the top, the cells will be kept in regular sequence without special marking or any particular attention by the user.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred em-- bodiment in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is the perspective view of a dispensing device of the invention showing the outlet end of the device; Fig. 2, a perspective view showing the other end of the device; Fig. 3, a vertical sectional view taken as indicated at line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view, taken as indicated at line H of Fig. 1: and Fig. 5, a fragmentary plan view of the blank that is used to make up the container.

In the embodiment illustrated the container 6 is of rectangular form, andis designed to hold three or more dry-cells in a parallel sequential relation, as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 4. The container is provided at its lower end with an outlet 1 which is large enough to permit one of the dry-cells 8 to slide outwardly. Preferably, an opening l is provided in the container at the opposite end from the opening I, so that the operator may engage one end of the dry-cell and thrust it through the end of the opening I.

The top of the container is provided with an inlet opening II which is large enough to receive a cell, but is provided with tabs I i which are bent inwardly, and yieldingly bear against the side walls of the dry-cell when it is introduced into the container. It has been found that the tabs allow a dry-cell to enter easily but effectively oppose withdrawal. After the cell has been passed through the opening ill, the tabs I I spring back to the position shown in Fig. 2 and make it difiicult to remove a cell from the wrong opening. Accordingly, the user may be sure that a cell which he can readily remove through the opening 1 will be the right one, and when that dry-cell is removed the next one will drop down into its position, making room at the top for the last used cell. I

The container may be made of any suitable material but, for economy reasons it is preferred to make it up from cardboard which has been blanked, as shown in Fig, 5. It will be understood that the blank may be folded up and the flaps glued or fastened to form the container shown in Fig. 1.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should :be understood therefrom, for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A dry-cell dispensing device comprising a box formed of front and rear panels connected by top and bottom walls and end walls, said box being of a size to hold a plurality of dry-cells in superposed parallel relation with the ends 01' the dry-cells adjacent to said end walls of the box, an outlet opening in one of said end walls near the bottom of the box to permit only the lower cell in the box to be withdrawn, an inlet opening in one of said end walls near the top of the box to permit a dry-cell to be inserted into the box; and resilient means for restraining withdrawal of a dry-cell from the box through said inlet opening.

2. A device as specified in claim 1, in which an aperture is-provided near the bottom of the end wall opposite to the outlet opening to facilitate expelling the lower dry-cell therethrough.

3. A device as specified in claim 1, in which the resilient restraining means comprises inwardly directed tabs, formed integrally with the end wall adjacent to the inlet opening and positioned to restrict the size of the opening to less than the diameter of a dry-cell.

4. A device as specified in claim 1, in which the box and resilient restraining means are formed integrally from a single sheet of cardboard.

LELAND G. BRIGGS. 

